Team ASA is sampling an inexpensive single board computer (SBC) for storage and other networking applications in the SMB (small-to-medium business) and residential markets. The NPWR-LC is based on an Intel IXP425 NPU (network processing unit), and comes with embedded Linux and other open source software.

(Click for larger view of NPWR-LC)

Intel's IXP425 is a system-on-chip that originally targeted last-mile applications such as DSL and cable modems when it launched in February of 2002. The NPWR-LC is factory-configurable to clock the chip at 166, 400, or 533MHz.

The NPWR-LC's I/O ports include dual 10/100 Ethernet, quad SATA (serial ATA) ports, two serial ports, and a USB port. The board supports memory configurations between 16- and 256MB, and includes 16MB of Flash.

The low-cost NPWR-LC supports up to 4 SATA drives

The NPWR-LC is available in Team ASA's standard NPWR form factor, which measures 5 x 8 inches, or in a new ultra-compact configuration measuring 4 x 5 inches.

According to Team ASA, the NPWR-LC can boot Linux or NetBSD from Flash. The board comes with a CD-ROM that includes both, along with a variety of standard Linux applications, such as Samba, NetAtalk, Apache, and NFS, and Team ASA claims that “customers can take the NPWR-LC out of the box and implement a new product in a single day.”

According to company president Mark Murray, Team ASA's OEM customers have asked for an inexpensive NPWR model for some time. “The NPWR-LC provides a low cost alternative without sacrificing processing performance,” adds Murry.

Team ASA also offers high-end NPWR boards that support Linux, including the dual-processor NPWR-DP, the fiber-channel enabled NPWR-FC, and the dual-SCSI enabled NPWR-DS. It launched the original NPWR board in June of 2001, later updating it with dual Gigabit Ethernet ports.

The NPWR-LC is sampling now, with production quantities expected in mid-Q4. Configured with a 266MHz Intel IXP425 and 128MB of SDRAM, the board will cost $115 in quantities of 1,000.

 
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